The sleep of Reason brings forth monsters – Goya

Rutland MoveOn 31Jan2017 Newsletter

If you have additions/recommendations for this newsletter (including issues you want handled) please let me know.

NEXT MOVEON RUTLAND MEETING

February 11 at noon – Glenn is working on getting a room at the Rutland Library

Proposed Agenda:

Postcard writing party to Paul Ryan

ACA EDUCATIONAL SIGN-HOLDING EVENT

Last Saturday, Carol Ballou hosted an ACA educational event in front of the hospital in Rutland. We held signs to educate passersby about what the ACA actually does, ramifications of repeal, and Planned Parenthood spending. It was a success! We got some supportive honks and waves. Carol is planning another event, possibly at another location in order to broaden our reach.

MEDIA OUTREACH

Facebook page Indivisible Rutland

MoveOn Rutland resources (starting with newsletters) have been added to www.Mindsworth.blog. Please let me know if you’d like to post any information here. I will rename the section if we choose a different name.

SUCCESSES (since this is a new section, I’m including more than just the past week)

NEW ISSUES REQUIRING ACTION (taking just 1 action helps!) (Note: It’s been suggested that the Media is incorrectly identifying some of tRump’s actions as Executive Orders when they’re actually memoranda. I’ve stuck with calling them “Executive Orders.” My apologies if that’s not correct in every instance.)

ACA Enrollment ends today

Action: If you haven’t signed up, do so

Action: The White House phone appears to have been turned off. So, write tRump a letter:

Senator Maggie Hassan is looking into why DHS was overruled by White House regarding Green Card-holders (DHS apparently recommended that Green Card-holders shouldn’t be subject to the ban, but White House overruled that recommendation) https://twitter.com/senatorhassan/status/825559761190019072 (Note: You can look at Twitter even if you don’t have a Twitter account)

Script: I am one of the senator’s constituents in Vermont. I would like to thank him for condemning tRump’s discriminatory ban on travel for individuals originating from certain Middle Eastern countries. I would also like to ask him to support Senator Feinstein’s legislation to rescind the order and limit tRump’s ability to unilaterally ban immigrants.

Second call: I am one of the senator’s constituents in Vermont. I would like to thank him for condemning tRump’s discriminatory ban on travel for individuals originating from certain Middle Eastern countries. I would also like to ask him to look into allegations that officials denied legal counsel to legal residents and ignored the federal judges’ orders to stay execution of this illegal Executive Order. This infringement upon the judicial branch constitutes a threat to our separation of powers and amounts to a Constitutional crisis.

Action: Count your House Representative (If it’s Peter Welch his local number is 802-652-2450

Script: [If Peter Welch or other representative who has condemned Executive Order] I am one of the representative’s constituents in Vermont. I would like to thank him for condemning tRump’s discriminatory ban on travel for individuals originating from certain Middle Eastern countries. I would also like to ask him to support representative Lofgren’s legislation to amend “the Immigration and Nationality Act stating that the government cannot reject people for entry based solely on their religion or nationality” and to defund tRump’s Executive Order.

[If representative hasn’t condemned Executive Order] I am one of the representative’s constituents in Vermont. I would like to ask him to condemn tRump’s discriminatory ban on travel for individuals originating from certain Middle Eastern countries. I would also like to ask him to support representative Lofgren’s legislation to amend “the Immigration and Nationality Act stating that the government cannot reject people for entry based solely on their religion or nationality” and to defund tRump’s Executive Order.

Script: I would like to thank the governor for his opposition to tRump’s discriminatory ban against travellers from seven Middle Eastern countries. I am asking the governor to follow through on his commitment to equality by making Vermont a sanctuary state to immigrants and refugees.

Script: I oppose the executive order banning entry to the US by green card-carrying residents, dual passport-holding residents, legal citizens, and vetted, peaceful refugees. This action is unconstitutional and unamerican.

Tweet: @realDonaldTrump How foolish it looks for a POTUS to prevent legal residents + peaceful immigrants from entering the USA.

Action: Consider contacting other Senators

Thorough list of US Senators’ positions on Muslim ban. Has referenced public positions, contact info, and re-election year.

made already existing Hyde Amendment permanent and bars insurance from paying for abortion

does allow exceptions for cases of rape, incest or if the mother’s life in danger

Action: Call Senators Leahy and Sanders to ask them to vote against HR 7

Sanders: Local office 802-862-0697

Leahy: Local office 802-863-2525

Script: I’m , a constituent who is appalled that the House passed HR.7. Women deserve to make their own medical choices and I want to protect legal access to safe abortion by voting NO on HR.7. I expect my senator to stand up for women’s reproductive rights, and will be watching closely.

Script: I am a constituent of the Senator in Vermont. I am concerned about the appointment of Bannon to the National Security Council and the downgrading of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Director of National Intelligence. According to 50 U.S. Code § 3021, the council shall consist of “the Secretaries and Under Secretaries of other executive departments and of the military departments, when appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.” This transformation of the National Security Council makes the USA less safe. I would like to thank the Senator for verbally opposing the reorganization of the National Security Council. What other steps will the senator be taking to ensure that the law is followed and this appointment is submitted to the Senate for approval?

Action: Sign petition for “a Constitutional Amendment that eliminates all reference to slavery from the Vermont State Constitution. We are also calling on legislators to provide appropriate funding to implement effective transparency into the criminal justice system. Grants must also be funded to provide resources for racial justice organizations for research, training and education. Vermont must make racial profiling illegal. Legislators should integrate Racial Impact Assessments into the law making process. Anti-bias training for all law enforcement officers must be expedited. Anti-bias policy and training must be implemented for all of the remainder of justice system personnel immediately. It must be enforcedly mandated that race traffic stop, use of force, plea, sentencing and other metrics related data be made publicly available to the fullest extent the law permits. It is imperative that law enforcement civilian oversight (with a community reporting apparatus, independent investigative, and prosecutorial and decertification powers) be implemented to reinforce trust and legitimacy in communities of color and increase overall public safety. S.W.A.T. or other heavy-handed punitive policing tactics to address suspected drug crimes must be prohibited and replaced with use of data-driven and community oriented policing. Racial disparities in Vermont touches additionally upon access to housing, educational institutions, access to healthcare, employment and various aspects of the political process. It is for this reason that we are asking that the Governor appoint a Racial Justice Oversight Board with the responsibility of administering a program that continuously assesses, reviews and addresses racial disparities in Vermont.” https://www.change.org/p/vermont-racial-justice-reform-and-constitutional-amendment-that-removes-all-reference-to-slavery-from-vermont-constitution

ACLU collecting signatures as part of its FOIA request regarding tRump

There is, however, evidence for suppression of minority voters by Republicans using Crosscheck, an initiative which deleted voters with matching names (looking only at first and last names). This targeted minority voters, who are more likely to share names than non-minorities. http://www.gregpalast.com/election-stolen-heres/

tRump could be laying groundwork for imposing voter id laws, which already exist in several states, across the country. These laws discriminate against impoverished individuals who do not have ready-access to the required documents, the required funds, or transportation to obtain the voter IDs.

https://impeachdonaldtrumpnow.org/ – Calling upon Congress to pass a resolution calling for the House Committee on the Judiciary to investigate whether sufficient grounds exist for the impeachment of Donald John Trump, President of the United States.

https://swingleft.org/ – Identifies the right-wing district nearest you and provides resources for you to help the district swing left in the next election

https://5calls.org/ – Sign-up to receive recommendations for five calls you can make every day to influence your representatives (it’s worthwhile even if you decide not to call every day because it will help you keep up to date on urgent issues)

https://dailyaction.org/ – Sign-up to receive one text message every workday about an issue that we have determined to be urgent based on where you live. You tap on the phone number in your message, listen to a short recording about that day’s issue, and from there you’ll be automatically routed to your Senator, member of Congress, or other relevant elected official. Takes 90 seconds each day.

Welcome Rutland http://www.rutlandwelcomes.org/ – held rally in Rutland on Saturday to protest ban on travel from Middle Eastern countries. This is the group involved with supporting refugees in Rutland (two families have already been settled).

Rights and Democracy http://www.radvt.org/ – held rally in Burlington on Sunday to protest ban on travel from Middle Eastern countries

Indivisible Vermont has a Twitter account: @IndivisibleVT and they’re currently trying to add followers.

Council on American-Islamic Relations https://www.cair.com/ – Raising a Constitutional challenge to tRump’s ban on travel from 7 Middle Eastern countries.

ACLU https://www.aclu.org/action – Note that they were responsible for bringing the cases to federal court in order to place a stay on enacting tRump’s Executive Order regarding travel to the USA from the Middle East.